New York Times bestselling author. Slow cooking expert.

Stop! Don't run away! Lima beans are good for you, and I promise this soup tastes nothing like the watery pile of pale lima beans you were served as a kid.This is super good soup ---- I had high expectations of packing up tupperwares to share with my parents and grandma and instead ate all the leftovers myself for lunch three days in a row.A batch fed my family of 5 and then there was enough for 3 lunches -- it makes a lot, and is filling without being overly heavy. I used Aidell's chicken and apple sausage for the meat, and this meat provided the only oil or fat, making this a very lean and packed-with-fiber meal.The Ingredients.serves 81 pound of soaked lima beans, drained (for quick soak: boil rapidly for 10 minutes, then turn off heat and leave covered for 1 hour.)1 large onion, peeled and diced1 head (about 10 cloves) garlic, peeled (ok to leave cloves whole)1 (28-ounce) can diced or plum tomatoes with basil1 (28-ounce) can water (fill empty tomato can with water, then dump into crockpot)2 teaspoons paprika1 (12-ounce) package chicken and apple sausage, diced (or about 2 cups diced ham)salt to taste (I used about 1 teaspoon kosher salt)The Directions.Use a 6-quart slow cooker. I used the Ninja. Place the drained lima beans into your cooker, and add the onion and garlic. Dump in the tomatoes, then rinse the can into the pot. Add paprika, and stir in the sausage. Cover, and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, or until the beans are fully soft.Use a handheld immersion blender to naturally thicken the broth by blending some of the beans and tomatoes. This also helps distribute the flavor and squish up the garlic cloves. If you don't have a handheld blender, you can scoop out a cup or so of the beans and smash them with a large fork or blend in a traditional blender, then stir them back into the pot.Salt to taste.Serve as-is, or with a sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese.The Verdict.Man, I loved this soup. I had the lima bean package in the back of the cabinet for a while, and figured I'd cook them with a ham hock, but never got around to doing so. I happily ate the leftovers for lunch out of a large mug, and look forward to making it again so I can share with my extended family. It's a cheap dinner, tastes great, is filling, low in fat, and as any preschooler would know, lima beans keep you from getting A Bad Case of The Stripes. :-) Win-win-win-win-win!

Thank you!! I have a 4 week old baby, and am looking for things I can pop into the crockpot. I know your blog, obviously, is full of fabulous ideas...I'm excited to start pinning likely candidates. This one sounds awesome, though!!

yay, Fran!Jayne, that sounds right. The beans cook, swell, and soften, but it takes a good 8 hours or so on low. When they are are fully cooked, use a handheld immersible blender to squish some up to naturally thicken the broth.

We are about to eat this for dinner! My husband and I are trying to lose weight and this is pretty low-calorie (about 230 per serving). I went with ham because it's our favorite :-) And realized I was out of paprika. Oops! It's still yummy (I couldn't help but sample it).

I recently came across this recipe and made it today - boy was it good. I did tweak it slightly, added a little more onion, used both the sausage and a few smoked pork necks and used smoked paprika. And then I served it with cast iron skillet cornbread. Thanks for your recipes, I have used a few of them now and enjoyed them all.

Used smoked paprika and a vegetarian sausage. Sooo yummy. I forgot to smash them with the immersion blender 'cause we were eating them already! Also, I just learned Lima beans are also called "butter beans." Maybe that's a way to sneak them past the psychological block of "limas...uck!"